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Earthworms

Earthworms
EarthwormsHelpTheEnvironment

Earthwormsaremorethanjustfishbait.Theyarethemain
contributorstoenrichingandimprovingsoilforplants,
animalsandevenhumans.Earthwormscreatetunnelsin
thesoilbyburrowing,whichaeratesthesoiltoallowair,
waterandnutrientstoreachdeepwithinthesoil.
Earthwormseatthesoilwhichhasorganicmattersuchas
decayingvegetationorleaves.Plantscannotusethis
organicmatterdirectly.Afterorganicmatterisdigested,
theearthwormreleaseswastefromtheirbodiescalled
castings.Castingscontainmanynutrientsthattheplant
canuse.Somepeopleevenuseearthwormcastingsas
gardenfertilizer.
EarthwormAnatomy
1.SegmentedBody
EarthwormsareclassifiedinthephylumAnnelidaor
Annelids.AnnelidainLatinmeans,littlerings.The
bodyoftheearthwormissegmentedwhichlookslike
manylittleringsjoinedorfusedtogether.Theearthworm
ismadeofabout100150segments.Thesegmentedbody
partsprovideimportantstructuralfunctions.Segmentation
canhelptheearthwormmove.Eachsegmentorsection
hasmusclesandbristlescalledsetae.Thebristlesorsetae
helpanchorandcontrolthewormwhenmovingthrough
soil.Thebristlesholdasectionofthewormfirmlyinto
thegroundwhiletheotherpartofthebodyprotrudes
forward.Theearthwormusessegmentstoeithercontract
orrelaxindependentlytocausethebodytolengthenin
oneareaorcontractinotherareas.Segmentationhelpsthe
wormtobeflexibleandstronginitsmovement.Ifeach
segmentmovedtogetherwithoutbeingindependent,the
earthwormwouldbestationary.

2.DigestiveSystem
Thedigestivesystemispartitionedintomanyregions,
eachwithacertainfunction.Thedigestivesystemconsists
ofthepharynx,theesophagus,thecrop,theintestineand
thegizzard.Foodsuchassoilenterstheearthworms
mouthwhereitisswallowedbythepharynx.Thenthesoil
passesthroughtheesophagus,whichhascalciferous
glandsthatreleasecalciumcarbonatetoridthe
earthwormsbodyofexcesscalcium.Afteritpasses
throughtheesophagus,thefoodmovesintothecrop
whereitisstoredandtheneventuallymovesintothe
gizzard.Thegizzardusesstonesthattheearthwormeatsto
grindthefoodcompletely.Thefoodmovesintothe
intestinesasglandcellsintheintestinereleasefluidsto
aidinthedigestiveprocess.Theintestinalwallcontains
bloodvesselswherethedigestedfoodisabsorbedand
transportedtotherestofthebody.

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3.CirculatorySystem
Anotherimportantorgansystemisthecirculatorysystem.
Theearthwormhasaclosedcirculatorysystem.An
earthwormcirculatesbloodexclusivelythroughvessels.
Therearethreemainvesselsthatsupplythebloodto
organswithintheearthworm.Thesevesselsaretheaortic
arches,dorsalbloodvessels,andventralbloodvessels.
Theaorticarchesfunctionlikeahumanheart.Thereare
fivepairsofaorticarches,whichhavetheresponsibilityof
pumpingbloodintothedorsalandventralbloodvessels.
Thedorsalbloodvesselsareresponsibleforcarrying
bloodtothefrontoftheearthwormsbody.Theventral
bloodvesselsareresponsibleforcarryingbloodtothe
backoftheearthwormsbody.

4.RespiratorySystem
Earthwormsdonothavelungs.Theybreathethroughtheir
skin.Oxygenandcarbondioxidepassthroughthe
earthwormsskinbydiffusion.Fordiffusiontooccur,the
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earthwormsskinmustbekeptmoist.Bodyfluidand
mucousisreleasedtokeepitsskinmoist.Earthworms
therefore,needtobeindampormoistsoil.Thisisone
reasonwhytheyusuallysurfaceatnightwhenitis
possiblycoolerandtheevaporatingpotentialoftheairis
low.(www.amonline.net.au/factsheets/earthworms.htm)
Earthwormshavedevelopedtheabilitytodetectlighteven
thoughtheycannotsee.Theyhavetissuelocatedatthe
earthwormsheadthatissensitivetolight.Thesetissues
enableanearthwormtodetectlightandnotsurfaceduring
thedaytimewheretheycouldbeaffectedbythesun.

EarthwormReproduction
Earthwormsarehermaphroditeswhereeachearthworm
containsbothmaleandfemalesexorgans.Themaleand
femalesexorganscanproducespermandeggrespectively
ineachearthworm.Althoughearthwormsare
hermaphrodites,mostneedamatetoreproduce.During
mating,twowormslineupinvertedfromeachotherso
spermcanbeexchanged.Theearthwormseachhavetwo
maleopeningsandtwospermreceptacles,whichtakein
thespermfromanothermate.Theearthwormshaveapair
ofovariesthatproduceeggs.Theclitellumwillforma
slimetubearoundit,whichwillfillwithanalbuminous
fluid.Theearthwormwillmoveforwardoutoftheslime
tube.Astheearthwormpassesthroughtheslimetube,the
tubewillpassoverthefemaleporepickingupeggs.The
tubewillcontinuetomovedowntheearthwormandpass
overthemaleporecalledthespermathecawhichhasthe
storedspermcalledthespermatozoa.Theeggswill
fertilizeandtheslimetubewillcloseoffastheworm
movescompletelyoutofthetube.Theslimetubewill
formaneggcocoonandbeputintothesoil.The
fertilizedeggswilldevelopandbecomeyoungworms.

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REFERENCES

1.www.amonline.net.au/factsheets/earthworms.htm
2.ScienceInsights,AddisonWesley,2001
3.HoltLifeScienceTextbook,Holt,RinehartandWinston,2001
4.BiologyAGuidetotheNaturalWorld,DavidKrogh,2005
5.www.nysite.com/nature/fauna/erthworm.htm
6.CarolinaTips,UsingTheEarthwormandPig,Spring2004,Volume67,No.1
7.www.naturewatch.com/english/wormwatch/about/ecology.html

ReferencesforPictures
1.www.wormpost.com/worms/anatomy_pic2.html
2.agent4.deviantart.com/journal/
3.www.anselm.edu/.../genbios/surveybi04.html
4.www.kwic.com/.../species/insects/worms.htm
5.www.recyclezone.org.uk/home_az.aspx
6.http://www.naturewatch.ca/english/wormwatch/about/ecology.html

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